JIJI English News-時事通信英語ニュース-

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel on Friday visited Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's westernmost island near Taiwan, in an apparent bid to keep China's growing military pressure in check.

The Diet, Japan's parliament, on Friday enacted a bill to promote the use of hydrogen energy for a carbon-free society.

Nozomi bullet trains on Japan's Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines will be operated with all-reserved seating from Aug. 9 to 18, their operators said Friday.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party submitted a bill to the House of Representatives on Friday to revise the political funds control law in the wake of its "slush fund" scandal.

Japan's political parties will aim to compile a plan on securing a sufficient number of Imperial Family members during the ongoing session of parliament, House of Representatives Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga said Friday.

Itochu Corp., KDDI Corp., Toyota Industries Corp., Mitsui Fudosan Co. and Mitsubishi Estate Co. said Friday that they will collaborate in developing an efficient logistics system using digital technology.

Shinji Ishimaru, the 41-year-old mayor of Akitakata in the western Japan prefecture of Hiroshima, said Friday that he will run as an independent candidate in the July 7 gubernatorial election in Tokyo.

Japan's new Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Mizushima on Friday vowed efforts for further development of ties between the Asian countries.

The Philippine government said Friday it has agreed to procure five more large patrol ships from Japan.

Japan's parliament enacted a bill to allow divorced parents to choose shared custody of their children on Friday, a move that will change the country's child custody system for the first time in 77 years.